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The Indian subcontinent: comparisons, comparisons!

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When I think of the word ‘comparison’ keeping the urban and not-so-urban areas (not rural either) in mind, the first thing that I can think of is the way of dressing.

The metropolitan cities have changed drastically — they display a completely different image than that of the cities. The traditional churidars, sarees, half-sarees and other traditional dresses are fast being replaced by denims and shorts.

Okay, I am exaggerating. I have not seen anyone wearing shorts, but I don’t think the day is far away. Changing traditions, fading mythologies, adopting the western culture — these are the reasons why India is soon going to lose its unqiueness in this world.

What do I find in the town that I do not find in the city? The lanes are narrow in the towns, while the metropolitans boast of wide roads and huge shopping malls. The population in the cities is large, while it is moderate in the towns. In the villages, the population is very less. The scanty people belonging to the villages are generally oldies. Not just them, but they are the main people there.

The average people live in cities and towns. I wonder what will become of India’s agriculture, then. Because all of us want to move to ‘better places’ as we call them — to the cities. If everyone fled to the cities, then who would remain in the villages? Who would do agriculture?

The future of India is predictable enough, is it not? We will soon start importing rice!

The rural areas — the villages of India — can be painfully quiet. They are full of greenery and are mostly isolated from other places. Buses that reach these places are very few, and one has to wait for hours to get a bus to get to the nearest town that acts as a hub.

Some villages do not even have the facilities needed for traveling — no good roads that can allow the buses inside — just narrow sandy lanes. These towns have their natives walking a few kilometres to reach their nearest bus-stop.

They always come over to the nearby towns for shopping, as the villages do not have extravagant shops and malls at all. A friend of mine who lives in the village comes over even to buy a pair of shoes!

The peaceful towns are more preferable sometimes, just to escape the loud noises of the cities. If you want to do something creative, if you want to be alone, these places are just perfect.

The southern parts of India have retained their culture to an extent, and from what I see, the northern Indians are adapting to the western culture faster.

Life in the city is always hectic, while the towns allow a much calmer life. India has a rich mythology, which has not become as polar as the Greek one, but there are various Gods, Goddesses and stories nonetheless. There are the two great epics, The Ramayana and The Mahabharatha that are famous Indian legends.

The children of today are losing most of their time in the internet, games and music that they hardly come to know of how great a country India actually is. They never come to realize that the pride of an Indian lies in keeping their traditions alive — one such person is me.

I have never thought of retaining the Indian myths — I myself do not have complete knowledge of the Hindu mythology stories — but I will try to do whatever I can for my country. I will not stop wearing denims and T-shirts. Instead, I can focus on also wearing the traditional Indian outfits. I can focus on not discarding the use of vermilion. I can do my bit to show that I’m an Indian to the core of my being.

I started writing this post as a comparison between a city and a town, but this ended up as a patriotic note.

Now you can go back to whatever you were doing before you stumbled across this post, while I shall continue living my average life as an average countryside-yet-urban-ish girl.